Injuries to the brain from trauma, stroke or the like are unfortunately, quite common. By way of example, each year, approximately 780,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke in the United States. Approximately 85% of these patients survive and require rehabilitation. As a result, stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S. Nearly four million Americans are living with the effects of stroke, with millions of family and friends acting as caregivers, and the estimated direct and indirect costs of stroke continue to escalate. It is estimated that the cost of stroke between 2005-2050 will approach $2.2 trillion and the majority of these costs with be directed towards long-term care and rehabilitation.
As previously noted, the most common treatment for stroke is physical rehabilitation. It is well known in stroke rehabilitation that passive movement repetition from the afflicted limb can produce notable recovery of lost function. This process is traditionally done by physical therapists, who are limited by the number of repetitions that they can reasonably provide in one session. Physical therapists are also limited in the number of patients that can be seen for therapy during a given time period. This, in turn, may cause an undue burden on the rehabilitation clinic and potential lapses in the treatment regimen for potential patients.
While passive movement repetition can be an effective rehabilitation strategy, the recovery can be slow, painstaking and suboptimal. To circumvent this issue, several products have attempted to provide more automated methods to promote rehabilitation, although they have generally been hampered by cost (Robotic therapies) or effectiveness/invasiveness (implantable cortical stimulators). There is growing scientific evidence that points to closed-loop functional neural stimulation as a viable means of driving plasticity in both the intact and damaged nervous system.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a closed loop, neural activity triggered rehabilitation device and method that facilitates the recovery of a patient from the effects of a sensory motor disability.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide a closed loop, neural activity triggered rehabilitation device and method that utilizes passive movement repetition of an afflicted limb with limited time requirements placed upon a physical therapist working with a patient.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a closed loop, neural activity triggered rehabilitation device and method that is simple to implement and easy to use.
In accordance with the present invention, a closed loop, neural activity triggered rehabilitation device is provided for facilitating recovery of a patient from the effects of a sensory motor disability. The patient includes a brain and at least one body part. The device includes a sensor system positionable adjacent the brain. The sensor system detects neural signals. A functional stimulation component is operatively connectable to at least one body part, such as a muscle or a nerve. The functional stimulation component stimulates the at least one body part in response to the neural signals detected.
The device may further include a sensory stimulation module operatively connected to the patient to provide sensory feedback thereto. The sensory stimulation module includes a tongue stimulator operatively connectable to a tongue of the patient. A central processing unit interconnects the sensor system and the functional stimulation component. The central processing unit causes the functional stimulation component to stimulate the at least one body part in response to the neural signals detected. The sensor system includes an electroencephalography sensor.
It is contemplated for the at least one body part to be at one muscle and for the sensor system to include a plurality of sensors. It is also contemplated for the functional stimulation component to include a plurality of muscle stimulators connectable to the at least one muscle. The device may also include a central processing unit operatively connected to the plurality of muscle stimulators and a multichannel amplifier interconnecting each of the plurality of sensors to the central processing unit.
A sensory stimulation module operatively connected to the central processing unit and to the patient to provide sensory feedback thereto. The sensory stimulation module includes a tongue stimulator operatively connectable to a tongue of the patient. The functional stimulation component stimulates the at least one muscle in response to predetermined parameters including a location of the sensory motor disability and a time period since the one onset sensory motor disability.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a closed loop, neural activity triggered rehabilitation device is provided for facilitating recovery of a patient from the effects of a sensory motor disability. The patient includes a brain and a muscle. The device includes a plurality of sensors positionable adjacent the brain for detecting neural signals. A plurality of muscle stimulators are operatively connectable to the at least one muscle. The plurality of muscle stimulators stimulate the at least one muscle in response to the neural signals detected.
A sensory stimulation module is operatively connected to the patient to provide sensory feedback thereto. The sensory stimulation module includes a tongue stimulator operatively connectable to a tongue of the patient. A central processing unit interconnects the plurality of sensors and the plurality of stimulators. The central processing unit causes the plurality of stimulators to stimulate the at least one body part in response to the neural signals detected. The plurality of sensors are electroencephalography sensors.
The device may include a central processing unit operatively connected to the plurality of stimulators and a multichannel amplifier interconnecting each of the plurality of sensors to the central processing unit. In such arrangement, a sensory stimulation module may be operatively connected to the central processing unit and to the patient to provide sensory feedback thereto. The sensory stimulation module includes a tongue stimulator operatively connectable to a tongue of the patient.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for facilitating the recovery of a patient from the effects of a sensory motor disability. The method includes the step of measuring neural signals from a brain using scalp-electroencephalography waves. Electrical stimulation is provided to a body part (e.g. a muscle or a nerve) in response to the measured neural signals.
General sensory stimulation is applied to the patient in conjunction with the electrical stimulation. The general sensory stimulation may be applied to a tongue of the patient. In addition, the scalp electrodes may be positioned on the patient to measure the neural signals. It is contemplated for the scalp electrodes to be electroencephalography sensors. A function magnetic resonance imaging test may be conducted to determine a proper position of the scalp electrodes to measure the neural signals.